Christopher Philippo's Blog: Christmas Ghost Stories and Horror
November 13, 2024
The origin of the lyric "scary ghost stories"?
How might the New York City-born Jewish songwriters of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” Edward Pola (Sidney Edward Pollacsek) (1907-1995) and George Wyle (Bernard Weissman) (1916-2003) have been exposed to the tradition “of scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago?”
Both men appear to have been living in California in the early 1960s. Some searching on ancestry.com indicated that the former’s father Alexander Pollacsek was from Hungary; the latter’s, David Bernard Weissman, was from Romania.
Had the writers learned traditions from Christian friends and neighbors in the US? Were they familiar in some way via their ancestors in Europe, given that Hungary and Romania had some ghostly Christmas traditions involving witches or goat-men?
Those things are possible, but credit might go primarily to Edward Pola, who spent much of his life in England between 1926 and 1961 at least, if not longer. Contributions to and mentions of the tradition hadn't ended with WWI, though they appear to have been somewhat less frequent.
Even someone who had not spent time in England could have been aware of the tradition, however. As I’d noted in the introduction to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four, aside from British publications being sold in America also, and Americans republishing British stories, some Americans wrote stories in the tradition as well. The anthologist Edward Wagenknecht, writing in 1949, thought that American examples were “few and far between,” but he couldn’t have dreamed of the search tools we have today. August Derleth, more grounded in horror literature than Wagenknecht was, showed more awareness, writing under the headline “U.S. Revives Ghost Tales for Holidays” in 1945 that there was
It’s hard to know what publications Pola and Wyle might have been reading in California in the 1960s. American newspapers did sometimes refer to the tradition, but seemingly less often than in the nineteenth century.
There doesn’t appear to be any evidence that listeners found the “scary ghost stories” lyric strange in 1963 or for decades following, despite the multitude of newspapers existing at the time, letters to the editor, syndicated humor columns, Q&A columns, etc. Still, it’s possible there were people that wondered about it and didn’t publicly pursue an answer, or that they supposed that Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” alone satisfactorily accounted for it and didn't look any further.
It’s also possible that Pola and Wyle’s parents would have been exposed to the traditions in Jewish publications in New York City in the late 19th-century. For example, in the the NY Jewish Messenger newspaper, “The Ghost at Beechover Hall” was reprinted from Once a Week’s Christmas 1866 issue, a story that included the line “The only thing which gave this ghost any individuality was, that, though her silks were often heard, she was only seen on Christmas-eve”. Some other New York examples follow, as well as an instance from a London paper reporting on a Rabbi reciting Dickens.
Bancroft’s public reading did not occur without some issue. While complimenting Rabbi Adler, Bancroft, and Dickens, the same paper nonetheless noted in a separate item “we are compelled to think that the reading was not well selected. We have nothing but praise and thanks for Sir Squire Bancroft; we only regret that he was not asked to read something that could not raise the spirit of controversy, and that did not in any way jar upon Jewish tradition” (301 col 1.). In other contexts, though, than Jewish charitable fundraising, there’s evidence of it continuing to be read by some Jewish readers for its entertainment, as literature.
Something else intriguing, Nittel Nacht, a relatively obscure, niche Jewish holiday; it may or may not have been known to Pola or Wyle:
The above article also mentions Krampus and many of the other similar bugbears. A couple others on the subject:
There had actually been a short story in that tradition in consideration for The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, volume four. It's still one I'd like to see anthologized, should there be another volume in the future.
It's also worth remembering that just as "fairy tales" don't necessarily feature a fairy, "ghost stories" don't necessarily involve a ghost. The term had historically been used even more loosely than now, and could be considered roughly like "weird tales" or "horror stories." Mary Shelley, for example, had described her Frankenstein as a "ghost story"; Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Body-Snatcher" was announced as a ghost story for Christmas:
The term was used somewhat interchangeably with "goblin tale" or "goblin story":
Both men appear to have been living in California in the early 1960s. Some searching on ancestry.com indicated that the former’s father Alexander Pollacsek was from Hungary; the latter’s, David Bernard Weissman, was from Romania.
Had the writers learned traditions from Christian friends and neighbors in the US? Were they familiar in some way via their ancestors in Europe, given that Hungary and Romania had some ghostly Christmas traditions involving witches or goat-men?
Those things are possible, but credit might go primarily to Edward Pola, who spent much of his life in England between 1926 and 1961 at least, if not longer. Contributions to and mentions of the tradition hadn't ended with WWI, though they appear to have been somewhat less frequent.
Even someone who had not spent time in England could have been aware of the tradition, however. As I’d noted in the introduction to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four, aside from British publications being sold in America also, and Americans republishing British stories, some Americans wrote stories in the tradition as well. The anthologist Edward Wagenknecht, writing in 1949, thought that American examples were “few and far between,” but he couldn’t have dreamed of the search tools we have today. August Derleth, more grounded in horror literature than Wagenknecht was, showed more awareness, writing under the headline “U.S. Revives Ghost Tales for Holidays” in 1945 that there was
“abundant evidence that the American reader is finding a great deal of pleasure in this form of entertainment. […] The telling of those stories at Christmas Eve as well as at Halloween is a time-honored tradition in America as well as in European countries, if admittedly not as wide-spread as it is across the sea.”
Derleth, August. “U.S. Revives Ghost Tales for Holidays.” Chicago Tribune. December 2, 1945: 20 col 5.
It’s hard to know what publications Pola and Wyle might have been reading in California in the 1960s. American newspapers did sometimes refer to the tradition, but seemingly less often than in the nineteenth century.
There doesn’t appear to be any evidence that listeners found the “scary ghost stories” lyric strange in 1963 or for decades following, despite the multitude of newspapers existing at the time, letters to the editor, syndicated humor columns, Q&A columns, etc. Still, it’s possible there were people that wondered about it and didn’t publicly pursue an answer, or that they supposed that Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” alone satisfactorily accounted for it and didn't look any further.
It’s also possible that Pola and Wyle’s parents would have been exposed to the traditions in Jewish publications in New York City in the late 19th-century. For example, in the the NY Jewish Messenger newspaper, “The Ghost at Beechover Hall” was reprinted from Once a Week’s Christmas 1866 issue, a story that included the line “The only thing which gave this ghost any individuality was, that, though her silks were often heard, she was only seen on Christmas-eve”. Some other New York examples follow, as well as an instance from a London paper reporting on a Rabbi reciting Dickens.
“Ethel will tell you the story. On former occasions the ghost has made its appearance or the voice has been heard, about Christmas time, so don’t be surprised if you hear a queer voice talking to you to-night—a weird elfin voice, complaining of its sad fate, and warning you of future ills.”
“A Mystery,” The Jewish Messenger [NY]. May 25, 1878: 1 col 3. (Reprinted from Munro, J[ohn]. “The Sphinx: A Mystery.” Cassell’s Family Magazine. Volume 4. April 1878. 275-279.)
“Sophie Strauss, I am not a bigot at all. I think Christmas is a lovely time for Christian children, and I love to read Dickens’ Christmas Carol. But for us—why we have Hanukkah.”
“For the Little Folks: Why Sophie Did Not Have a Christmas Tree.” Jewish Messenger [NY]. December 29, 1882: 5 col 1.
“The Christmas number of Illustrations is a splendid specimen of the art of the printer and engraver. Among its contents will be found the usual seasonable ghost story”
“Literary and Art Notes.” Jewish World [London]. December 13, 1889: 2 col 3.
“Dr. Adler, the Chief Rabbi, presided last Saturday night [January 15th] at the reading, given by Sir Squire Bancroft, of Dickens' ‘Christmas Carol’, at St. Martin's Town Hall, in aid of the Home and Hospital for Jewish Incurables.”
“East and West.” Jewish World [London]. January 21, 1898: 304 col 2.
Bancroft’s public reading did not occur without some issue. While complimenting Rabbi Adler, Bancroft, and Dickens, the same paper nonetheless noted in a separate item “we are compelled to think that the reading was not well selected. We have nothing but praise and thanks for Sir Squire Bancroft; we only regret that he was not asked to read something that could not raise the spirit of controversy, and that did not in any way jar upon Jewish tradition” (301 col 1.). In other contexts, though, than Jewish charitable fundraising, there’s evidence of it continuing to be read by some Jewish readers for its entertainment, as literature.
“Mr. [Albert Lewis] Kanter, whose Classics Illustrated has sold more than 40,000,000 copies of better comics dealing with subjects loftier than gangsters and hideous moon-men, reported recently on an inspection of the Israeli scene that small-fry in the young republic prefer the heavier stuff to trash. Tales like David Copperfield, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Ivanhoe — even Dickens’ Christmas Carol — highest on the Israeli lists.”
Shalom, Joseph. “Nuggets From Israel.” Southern Jewish Weekly [Jacksonville, FL]. June 4, 1954: 9.
Something else intriguing, Nittel Nacht, a relatively obscure, niche Jewish holiday; it may or may not have been known to Pola or Wyle:
“it is ‘possible the German Christian perception of Christmas Eve as a dangerous time given over to demons and ghosts had some influence on the atmosphere in the Jewish German community, where these practices we have been looking at were first attested.’ As we will see, this particular superstition had more than a passing influence on the atmosphere in the Jewish German community on Christmas Eve - this German Christian tradition was, in fact, an important (if indirect) source of the Jewish Nittel Nacht observances.”
Scharbach, Rebecca. “The Ghost in the Privy: On the Origins of Nittel Nacht and Modes of Cultural Exchange.” Jewish Studies Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 4, 2013, pp. 340–373., http://www.jstor.org/stable/24751806 . Accessed 18 Aug. 2020.
The above article also mentions Krampus and many of the other similar bugbears. A couple others on the subject:
Cohen, Benjamin. “The little-known Jewish holiday of Christmas Eve. Seriously.” Slate. December 22, 2009. https://slate.com/human-interest/2009/12/the-little-known-jewish-holiday-of-christmas-eve-seriously.html .
Alleson-Gerberg, Shai. "Nittel Nacht: An Inverted Christmas with Toledot Yeshu How Jews responded to the celebration of Jesus' birth by creating a cynical version of Christmas Eve lampooning him." TheTorah.com. n.d. https://www.thetorah.com/article/nittel-nacht-an-inverted-christmas-with-toledot-yeshu .
There had actually been a short story in that tradition in consideration for The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, volume four. It's still one I'd like to see anthologized, should there be another volume in the future.
It's also worth remembering that just as "fairy tales" don't necessarily feature a fairy, "ghost stories" don't necessarily involve a ghost. The term had historically been used even more loosely than now, and could be considered roughly like "weird tales" or "horror stories." Mary Shelley, for example, had described her Frankenstein as a "ghost story"; Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Body-Snatcher" was announced as a ghost story for Christmas:
"Mr. Stevenson has found a thrilling title for the ghost story which will appear in the Christmas number of the Pall Mall Gazette. It is to be called 'The Body Snatcher.' And it will be a thrilling story, I can tell you. Such a tale as will make your blood curdle like restaurant milk. But surely Mr. Stevenson's thriller would have been sufficient attraction without the addition of a twenty pound prize. Mr. Stead might have spared us this. The portrait of Miss Fortescue was bad enough, but surely the journal written by gentlemen for gentlemen can get along without such inducements to purchasers as money prizes."
Sporting Gazette. December 13, 1884: 10 col 3.
The term was used somewhat interchangeably with "goblin tale" or "goblin story":
"Changed as we are in manhood, still the established regulations of our Christmas homes hurry us back to what we were many years ago. The same preparations for happiness in the same old house, the same old faces, the round game at cards, the misletoe, the Christmas log, the goblin tale, and game at blind-man’s-buff, all equipotent in their magic influence to cheat us out of what we are, and make us young and innocent again"
“Christmas.” Windsor and Eton Express. December 22, 1849: 4 col 5.
January 27, 2024
Beaugrand's "The Werwolves”
I'd promised some further thoughts on the story, and while I have a longer piece on the subject in the works, here are some before it gets too much more past Christmas (hey, Spectrum's Music Choice channel is still playing Christmas songs!):
Certainly from my perspective Corporal Baptiste Tranchemontagne got more or less what was coming to him. I’d say the same of my (adoptive) maternal ancestor Colonel William Crawford (1722-1782) who died a somewhat similar death in reality to Baptiste’s fictional one.
The frame tale’s Christmas eve setting of storytelling, the unreliable narrators, the self-serving narrators, the critical remarks about the "fool or poltroon" of a watchman (who's punished), the trapper “evidently proud to have the occasion to recite his exploits,” and the listeners, “a crowd of superstitious adventurers, whose credulous curiosity was instantly awakened by the promise of a story that would appeal to their love of the supernatural," and Sergeant Bellehumeur who relates a story in which the key events are things he did not witness but heard second or third-hand - that all seems to me to make a case for Beaugrand as the author not meaning that we his readers (of 1898 or today) are supposed to automatically take the side of the soldiers in the story and believe what they say. He gave us many reasons not to believe them.
I’m not convinced that it is a given that there were any werewolves in the story, just that the possibility is open for the reader's interpretation. Uncertainty, an unresolved tension between the uncanny (the seemingly supernatural explained by the natural) and the marvelous (genuinely supernatural) is very characteristic of ghost stories in general - Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw being an oft-cited example.
Beaugrand was a folklorist, and after the story’s initial appearance in The Century magazine, it was reprinted in his anthology La Chasse Galerie: Légendes Canadiennes /La Chasse Galerie And Other Canadian Stories following the titular Christmas ghost story. Regarding the content, one historian has written “though Beaugrand was credited as the author, many of these stories had been around for generations—maybe centuries—and were preserved with various regional inflections across the province.” https://querythepast.com/french-canad...
Beaugrand was widely-traveled, across "Europe, the United States, Mexico, Japan, China, India and the northern part of Africa" and actively interested in other cultures. A number of details regarding his studies and travels can be found in Frank M. Guttman's Honoré Beaugrand: a Traditional “Rouge”? Rev. Ed. Xlibris US, 2019. Guttman also described at least one short story Beaugrand wrote with sympathetic Native American people in a central role, “Liowata, épisode de 1759.” L’Écho du Canada [Fall River]. August-September 1873. And for what it's worth, the book also includes a photograph of Beaugrand with "Chief Crowfoot [of the Siksika Nation, Blackfoot Confederacy] and his adopted brother Three Bulls," the possible date of which may be suggested by a short international news item I'd found:
None of which is to say that Beaugrand was necessarily free of racist beliefs or actions. However, he seems to have been relatively decent for his time (the story being published in 1898), and I don't think characters in one of his stories with episodes set during 1705-1706 and "many years prior" can in isolation be taken to have been voicing his own beliefs. Rather, the characters might reasonably accurately reflect the time in which they were set?
Including the story was also part of my desire not to interpret my charge of finding "American Victorian Christmas ghost stories" overly narrowly, but to go with North America (I'd have included a Mexican story too, had I found one).
One writer had observed, "the fiction of French Canada has traditionally been slighted by American and English critics. 19th century French Canadian genre fiction has been particularly ignored." Nevins, Jess. “QUAINT #30: ‘The Werwolves’ by Honoré Beaugrand.” QUAINT: The Quest for Unusual & Adventurous International Notations & Tales. September 7, 2011. https://beyondvictoriana.com/2011/09/...
I didn't care to number myself among those slighting or ignoring the contributions of that literature.
Nevin's article is one of several examples of the story being given some critical attention, others including:
Scott, Shannon. "Female werewolf as monstrous other in Honoré Beaugrand’s ‘The Werewolves’." She-Wolf: A Cultural History of Wemale Werewolves, edited by Hannah Priest. Manchester UP, 2015.
Chantal Bourgault du Coudray (2002) Upright Citizens on All Fours: Nineteenth-Century Identity and the Image of the Werewolf, Nineteenth-Century Contexts, 24:1, 1-16, DOI: 10.1080/08905490290031767
Franck, Kaja. “‘The Worst Loups-Garous That One Can Meet’: Reading the Werewolf in the Canadian ‘Wilderness.’” Gothic Studies, vol. 22, no. 1, Mar. 2020, pp. 64–80. doi:10.3366/gothic.2020.0038 . https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/ful...
Thomas, G. W. "The Strangest Northerns: Henry Beaugrand Style." Darkworlds Quarterly: The Culture of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. May 3, 2020. https://darkworldsquarterly.gwthomas....
None focused much on the Christmas aspect, the idea of the story fitting in the Christmas ghost story tradition. I thought it was worth considering that way. But, of course, not everyone will agree!
Certainly from my perspective Corporal Baptiste Tranchemontagne got more or less what was coming to him. I’d say the same of my (adoptive) maternal ancestor Colonel William Crawford (1722-1782) who died a somewhat similar death in reality to Baptiste’s fictional one.
The frame tale’s Christmas eve setting of storytelling, the unreliable narrators, the self-serving narrators, the critical remarks about the "fool or poltroon" of a watchman (who's punished), the trapper “evidently proud to have the occasion to recite his exploits,” and the listeners, “a crowd of superstitious adventurers, whose credulous curiosity was instantly awakened by the promise of a story that would appeal to their love of the supernatural," and Sergeant Bellehumeur who relates a story in which the key events are things he did not witness but heard second or third-hand - that all seems to me to make a case for Beaugrand as the author not meaning that we his readers (of 1898 or today) are supposed to automatically take the side of the soldiers in the story and believe what they say. He gave us many reasons not to believe them.
I’m not convinced that it is a given that there were any werewolves in the story, just that the possibility is open for the reader's interpretation. Uncertainty, an unresolved tension between the uncanny (the seemingly supernatural explained by the natural) and the marvelous (genuinely supernatural) is very characteristic of ghost stories in general - Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw being an oft-cited example.
Beaugrand was a folklorist, and after the story’s initial appearance in The Century magazine, it was reprinted in his anthology La Chasse Galerie: Légendes Canadiennes /La Chasse Galerie And Other Canadian Stories following the titular Christmas ghost story. Regarding the content, one historian has written “though Beaugrand was credited as the author, many of these stories had been around for generations—maybe centuries—and were preserved with various regional inflections across the province.” https://querythepast.com/french-canad...
Beaugrand was widely-traveled, across "Europe, the United States, Mexico, Japan, China, India and the northern part of Africa" and actively interested in other cultures. A number of details regarding his studies and travels can be found in Frank M. Guttman's Honoré Beaugrand: a Traditional “Rouge”? Rev. Ed. Xlibris US, 2019. Guttman also described at least one short story Beaugrand wrote with sympathetic Native American people in a central role, “Liowata, épisode de 1759.” L’Écho du Canada [Fall River]. August-September 1873. And for what it's worth, the book also includes a photograph of Beaugrand with "Chief Crowfoot [of the Siksika Nation, Blackfoot Confederacy] and his adopted brother Three Bulls," the possible date of which may be suggested by a short international news item I'd found:
AN INDIAN INTERVIEWED..
—
Crowfoot, the Blackfoot Chief, Gives His Experience of the Rebellion.
MONTREAL.—Oct. 1.—Crowfoot, the Blackfoot chief who was loyal to the [Dominion?] government during the recent rebellion, has arrived here, accompanied by his brother Three Bulls, and was presented with an address by Mayor Beaugrand.
Daily Evening Bulletin [Mayville, KY]. October 1, 1886: 1 col 3.
None of which is to say that Beaugrand was necessarily free of racist beliefs or actions. However, he seems to have been relatively decent for his time (the story being published in 1898), and I don't think characters in one of his stories with episodes set during 1705-1706 and "many years prior" can in isolation be taken to have been voicing his own beliefs. Rather, the characters might reasonably accurately reflect the time in which they were set?
Including the story was also part of my desire not to interpret my charge of finding "American Victorian Christmas ghost stories" overly narrowly, but to go with North America (I'd have included a Mexican story too, had I found one).
One writer had observed, "the fiction of French Canada has traditionally been slighted by American and English critics. 19th century French Canadian genre fiction has been particularly ignored." Nevins, Jess. “QUAINT #30: ‘The Werwolves’ by Honoré Beaugrand.” QUAINT: The Quest for Unusual & Adventurous International Notations & Tales. September 7, 2011. https://beyondvictoriana.com/2011/09/...
I didn't care to number myself among those slighting or ignoring the contributions of that literature.
Nevin's article is one of several examples of the story being given some critical attention, others including:
Scott, Shannon. "Female werewolf as monstrous other in Honoré Beaugrand’s ‘The Werewolves’." She-Wolf: A Cultural History of Wemale Werewolves, edited by Hannah Priest. Manchester UP, 2015.
Chantal Bourgault du Coudray (2002) Upright Citizens on All Fours: Nineteenth-Century Identity and the Image of the Werewolf, Nineteenth-Century Contexts, 24:1, 1-16, DOI: 10.1080/08905490290031767
Franck, Kaja. “‘The Worst Loups-Garous That One Can Meet’: Reading the Werewolf in the Canadian ‘Wilderness.’” Gothic Studies, vol. 22, no. 1, Mar. 2020, pp. 64–80. doi:10.3366/gothic.2020.0038 . https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/ful...
Thomas, G. W. "The Strangest Northerns: Henry Beaugrand Style." Darkworlds Quarterly: The Culture of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. May 3, 2020. https://darkworldsquarterly.gwthomas....
None focused much on the Christmas aspect, the idea of the story fitting in the Christmas ghost story tradition. I thought it was worth considering that way. But, of course, not everyone will agree!
January 1, 2024
Ghost stories (set/published) at Christmas
"Christmas Ghost Stories" covers two general categories:
• Ghost stories published/told at Christmas
• Ghost stories set at Christmas
Sometimes they overlap, as with Dickens' A Christmas Carol. My general preference for Christmastime leisure reading is for the kind set at Christmas, even though many of the ones that were only published at Christmas are excellent - those I feel more comfortable reading any time of the year. An accurate view of the genre as a whole should take both kinds into consideration, though.
Consider (if the release date info on IMDb can be trusted):
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) Release Info 24 December 1931
• Island of Lost Souls (1932) Release Info 26 December 1932
Are those Christmas horror movies? In a sense, yes, but more likely around Christmas a genre fan might watch Dead of Night (1945) Release Info 9 September 1945, because of the segment "The Christmas Party." They might be even more likely to watch a feature centering around Christmas, or an anthology wherein all the segments pertain to it, though. That's not to say watching those other films (and others released during the season but not set then) might not be an interesting experiment. One might view them while keeping foremost in mind that many in the original audiences would have had their homes decorated for the holidays, the theaters may have been decorated, etc.
When it comes to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories anthology series, the percentage of stories set at Christmas has generally trended upward. I couldn't say why for sure; I'd guess it would have to do with how the compilers went about searching for stories.
Not counting stories that had only mentioned Christmas in the title, the percentage of stories that involved Christmas (or Advent or Christmastide) in some way:
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume one = 5/13 (38%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume two = 8/15 (53%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume three = 13/20 (65%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four = 24/27 (89%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume five = 16/21 (76%)
2002's volume of James Skipp Borlase's Christmas ghost stories volume was similarly high, 10/13 (77%).
Gauging the degree to which they fully involved Christmas would be another question, possibly more subjective - and what stories one might view as "Christmassy" even moreso.
• Ghost stories published/told at Christmas
• Ghost stories set at Christmas
Sometimes they overlap, as with Dickens' A Christmas Carol. My general preference for Christmastime leisure reading is for the kind set at Christmas, even though many of the ones that were only published at Christmas are excellent - those I feel more comfortable reading any time of the year. An accurate view of the genre as a whole should take both kinds into consideration, though.
Consider (if the release date info on IMDb can be trusted):
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) Release Info 24 December 1931
• Island of Lost Souls (1932) Release Info 26 December 1932
Are those Christmas horror movies? In a sense, yes, but more likely around Christmas a genre fan might watch Dead of Night (1945) Release Info 9 September 1945, because of the segment "The Christmas Party." They might be even more likely to watch a feature centering around Christmas, or an anthology wherein all the segments pertain to it, though. That's not to say watching those other films (and others released during the season but not set then) might not be an interesting experiment. One might view them while keeping foremost in mind that many in the original audiences would have had their homes decorated for the holidays, the theaters may have been decorated, etc.
When it comes to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories anthology series, the percentage of stories set at Christmas has generally trended upward. I couldn't say why for sure; I'd guess it would have to do with how the compilers went about searching for stories.
Not counting stories that had only mentioned Christmas in the title, the percentage of stories that involved Christmas (or Advent or Christmastide) in some way:
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume one = 5/13 (38%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume two = 8/15 (53%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume three = 13/20 (65%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four = 24/27 (89%)
• Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume five = 16/21 (76%)
2002's volume of James Skipp Borlase's Christmas ghost stories volume was similarly high, 10/13 (77%).
Gauging the degree to which they fully involved Christmas would be another question, possibly more subjective - and what stories one might view as "Christmassy" even moreso.
December 31, 2023
another Dickens parody
This piece appeared in newspapers across the country, evidently syndicated in some way. I've yet to determine who "T. Sapp" the author was.
It's rather silly, but still sort of fun. I like the bit about the doornail and the slang phrases like "I'm on."
Happy New Year!
NEW “CHRISTMAS CAROL.”
—
Not by Charles Dickens, but an Incipient Parody on His Famous Story.
Barley was dead to begin with. He was as dead as a doornail, which must be going some in the dead line, as people have been using a doornail as a simile of death for several centuries. But Smoodge was alive and kicking.
Smoodge kicked particularly against Christmas presents. He didn’t believe in Christmas presents. Barley, his old partner, dead these seven years, hadn’t believed in Christmas presents either.
When Smoodge shut up his warehouse and went home on Christmas eve—he lived in lodgings that had been Barley’s—the doornail assumed an expression which he had never noted there before. The head of that dead doornail resolved itself into the head of Barley.
“Hey, Jacob; I thought you were dead!” cried Smoodge.
“So I am, Ebenezer,” replied the vitalized doornail, “but I’ve come back to warn you that you will be visited at midnight by three ghosts, one after the other. So long, Eb!”
Barley’s ghost again became a dead doornail. Smoodge went to bed and promptly at midnight was awakened by an apparition. It was the first of the three spirits. It seemed to crawl out from under his bed. It danced on the footboard of the bed.
“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present Past,” said the spirit.
“You look to me like one of those slippers my niece gave me last year,” said Smoodge.
“You win,” said the ghost and vanished.
Presently the second spirit arrived, doing a merry dance over the washstand.
“You look to me like another slipper,” said Smoodge.
“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present Present,” said the spirit.
“Ha, I see!” said Smoodge. “You’re one of the slippers my niece is going to give me this year.”
Whereat Spirit No. 2 smiled and vamoosed.
In a jiffy the third of the promised spirits came in. It jumped upon the bed and slapped Smoodge in the face.
“I’m on,” said Smoodge; “you’re another slipper.”
“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present Future,” said the spirit sepulchrally.
“Yes, I know,” remarked Smoodge. “My niece will present you and your mate to me next Christmas. Because I’m an old man she never sends me anything but slippers. But these ghostly visits have taught me a lesson. Hereafter I’ll be a better man. I’ll give my niece a Chantecler hat instead of the usual pair of gloves, and maybe next time she’ll give me a silk topper.” T. SAPP.
Blue Hill Leader [NE]. December 2, 1910: 8.
It's rather silly, but still sort of fun. I like the bit about the doornail and the slang phrases like "I'm on."
Happy New Year!
NEW “CHRISTMAS CAROL.”
—
Not by Charles Dickens, but an Incipient Parody on His Famous Story.
Barley was dead to begin with. He was as dead as a doornail, which must be going some in the dead line, as people have been using a doornail as a simile of death for several centuries. But Smoodge was alive and kicking.
Smoodge kicked particularly against Christmas presents. He didn’t believe in Christmas presents. Barley, his old partner, dead these seven years, hadn’t believed in Christmas presents either.
When Smoodge shut up his warehouse and went home on Christmas eve—he lived in lodgings that had been Barley’s—the doornail assumed an expression which he had never noted there before. The head of that dead doornail resolved itself into the head of Barley.
“Hey, Jacob; I thought you were dead!” cried Smoodge.
“So I am, Ebenezer,” replied the vitalized doornail, “but I’ve come back to warn you that you will be visited at midnight by three ghosts, one after the other. So long, Eb!”
Barley’s ghost again became a dead doornail. Smoodge went to bed and promptly at midnight was awakened by an apparition. It was the first of the three spirits. It seemed to crawl out from under his bed. It danced on the footboard of the bed.
“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present Past,” said the spirit.
“You look to me like one of those slippers my niece gave me last year,” said Smoodge.
“You win,” said the ghost and vanished.
Presently the second spirit arrived, doing a merry dance over the washstand.
“You look to me like another slipper,” said Smoodge.
“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present Present,” said the spirit.
“Ha, I see!” said Smoodge. “You’re one of the slippers my niece is going to give me this year.”
Whereat Spirit No. 2 smiled and vamoosed.
In a jiffy the third of the promised spirits came in. It jumped upon the bed and slapped Smoodge in the face.
“I’m on,” said Smoodge; “you’re another slipper.”
“I am the Ghost of Christmas Present Future,” said the spirit sepulchrally.
“Yes, I know,” remarked Smoodge. “My niece will present you and your mate to me next Christmas. Because I’m an old man she never sends me anything but slippers. But these ghostly visits have taught me a lesson. Hereafter I’ll be a better man. I’ll give my niece a Chantecler hat instead of the usual pair of gloves, and maybe next time she’ll give me a silk topper.” T. SAPP.
Blue Hill Leader [NE]. December 2, 1910: 8.
December 28, 2023
Christmas ghost stories and new technologies
Aside from stories told aloud at home and public events, the printed stories (including poems,) illustrations of various kinds, tableaux, theatre and pantomime, magic lantern shows, one also finds a long history of sound recordings, radio, film, television. By this time there might be video games too, maybe? Virtual reality?
Below are some examples from the silent era of film. As with print, there were both stories that were set around Christmastime and ones that were shown around Christmastime but not set at Christmas.
The latter kind might have been intended by the filmmakers or distributors to be Christmas ghost stories, though I think that may be somewhat less likely than with print publications and that it was more a case of critics or viewers receiving them that way. "The Haunted House of Wild Isle" was an American film evidently originally released in April 1915, and the supposed haunting was revealed not to be supernatural at all. (Granted, a fairly large number of Christmas ghost stories lacked real ghosts, turning out to be sleepwalkers, animals, burglars, etc.—but reprinting too many of those would really irritate 21st-century readers, I think!) "The Grey Ghost" may have been the 1917 American film by that name, the title of which may only have been the name of a master criminal, following similarly named ones like Fantomas and Les Vampires.
The items regarding "The Mistletoe Bough" (1904) are surprising in two respects. The first ad has spoilers, but of course people would have known the story from the song, and the ghost added to it from the stage play. The second has an expression of either some xenophobia or nationalistic capitalism; further research would have to be done to see whether it might have been complaining more about American films or continental ones.
CLARENDON FILMS.
—
THE MISTLETOE BOUGH
IN THIRTEEN SCENES.
—
ARRANGED FROM THE WELL-KNOWN BALLAD.
BRILLIANT QUALITY,
FINISHED ACTING,
BEAUTIFUL EFFECTS,
DRAMATIC AND ROMANTIC.
—
1.—THE INTERIOR OF THE BARONIAL HALL. The Wedding Festivities; the Bride leaves the Dancers and runs off to hide.
2.—THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE HALL. The Bride leaving and crossing the Yard to the Ancient Tower.
3.—THE BRIDE CLIMBING THE STAIR TO THE TOP OF THE TOWER.
4.—THE MOONLIT CORRIDOR. She hides in the "Old Oak Chest.”
5.—THE BARONIAL HALL. The Search commences.
6.—IN THE DUNGEONS; Searching by Torchlight.
7.—THE COURTYARD. Lord Lovell with the Baron and Guests crossing to the Ancient Tower.
8.—THEY CLIMB THE STAIR.
9.—THEY SEARCH THE CORRIDOR; find her handkerchief; they return disconsolate.
10.—MAGNIFICENT EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE HALL. Lord Lovell and a band of retainers start to search the Country.
11.—THE BARON’S APARTMENTS. The return of Lord Lovell.
THIRTY YEARS AFTER.
12.—THE BARONIAL HALL. In a vision, Lord Lovell sees his Bride and the “Old Oak Chest.” He is taking her in his arms when she fades away.
13.—IN THE CORRIDOR. Lord Lovell breaks open the “Old Oak Chest.” The Skeleton.
No. 109. Length, 500ft. Price, £12 10s.
The Era. December 10, 1904: 35.
“Clarendon" Films
Sole Agents,
I. GAUMONT & CO.
—
109. Code, “Mistletoe.” THE MISTLETOE BOUGH.
A GREAT SUCCESS, THIRTEEN SCENES OF THE GRAND ROMANTIC CHRISTMAS DRAMA. SUPERBLY EXECUTED THROUGHOUT.
Genuinely English in Conception and Sentiment.
No incomprehensible Foreign Hash.
A Good Top of the Bill. A Sure Draw. Orders filled in rotation.
Length, 500ft. Price, £12 10s.
The Era. December 31, 1904: 33.
"Earliest film of Christmas ghost story sees light; Watch the BFI’s restoration of The Mistletoe Bough (1904), the oldest film version of a classic Christmas ghost story." British Film Institute. December 12, 2013. https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/earliest-...
"At the Queen’s Electric Theatre cinema pictures and vaudeville are again the attraction, and two most interesting programmes have been secured for next week’s showing. The opening portion of the week the screen will show a Christmas ghost story, 'The Haunted House of Wild Isle.' It is the case of the ghost that captures another man’s money.
“Next Week’s Amusements.” Stalybridge Reporter. December 18, 1915: 3 col 6.
“A CHRISTMAS EVE GHOST STORY O—o-o-oh! The centre girl is our own MARY PICKFORD.”
Picturegoer. December 15, 1917: 616. [photograph and caption appearing alongside “The Crystal Studio Case: A Christmas Mystery Yarn” by Ivan Patrick Gore.]
"Still trying to track a Christmas ghost, the nearest I could get to it was with this Trans-Atlantic Company, one of which had dreamt of 'The Grey Ghost.' The ghosts must all have joined up in one of the numerous “phantom armies” we have read of in the war."
“Weekly Notes.” The Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly. January 10, 1918: 39.
Below are some examples from the silent era of film. As with print, there were both stories that were set around Christmastime and ones that were shown around Christmastime but not set at Christmas.
The latter kind might have been intended by the filmmakers or distributors to be Christmas ghost stories, though I think that may be somewhat less likely than with print publications and that it was more a case of critics or viewers receiving them that way. "The Haunted House of Wild Isle" was an American film evidently originally released in April 1915, and the supposed haunting was revealed not to be supernatural at all. (Granted, a fairly large number of Christmas ghost stories lacked real ghosts, turning out to be sleepwalkers, animals, burglars, etc.—but reprinting too many of those would really irritate 21st-century readers, I think!) "The Grey Ghost" may have been the 1917 American film by that name, the title of which may only have been the name of a master criminal, following similarly named ones like Fantomas and Les Vampires.
The items regarding "The Mistletoe Bough" (1904) are surprising in two respects. The first ad has spoilers, but of course people would have known the story from the song, and the ghost added to it from the stage play. The second has an expression of either some xenophobia or nationalistic capitalism; further research would have to be done to see whether it might have been complaining more about American films or continental ones.
CLARENDON FILMS.
—
THE MISTLETOE BOUGH
IN THIRTEEN SCENES.
—
ARRANGED FROM THE WELL-KNOWN BALLAD.
BRILLIANT QUALITY,
FINISHED ACTING,
BEAUTIFUL EFFECTS,
DRAMATIC AND ROMANTIC.
—
1.—THE INTERIOR OF THE BARONIAL HALL. The Wedding Festivities; the Bride leaves the Dancers and runs off to hide.
2.—THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE HALL. The Bride leaving and crossing the Yard to the Ancient Tower.
3.—THE BRIDE CLIMBING THE STAIR TO THE TOP OF THE TOWER.
4.—THE MOONLIT CORRIDOR. She hides in the "Old Oak Chest.”
5.—THE BARONIAL HALL. The Search commences.
6.—IN THE DUNGEONS; Searching by Torchlight.
7.—THE COURTYARD. Lord Lovell with the Baron and Guests crossing to the Ancient Tower.
8.—THEY CLIMB THE STAIR.
9.—THEY SEARCH THE CORRIDOR; find her handkerchief; they return disconsolate.
10.—MAGNIFICENT EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE HALL. Lord Lovell and a band of retainers start to search the Country.
11.—THE BARON’S APARTMENTS. The return of Lord Lovell.
THIRTY YEARS AFTER.
12.—THE BARONIAL HALL. In a vision, Lord Lovell sees his Bride and the “Old Oak Chest.” He is taking her in his arms when she fades away.
13.—IN THE CORRIDOR. Lord Lovell breaks open the “Old Oak Chest.” The Skeleton.
No. 109. Length, 500ft. Price, £12 10s.
The Era. December 10, 1904: 35.
“Clarendon" Films
Sole Agents,
I. GAUMONT & CO.
—
109. Code, “Mistletoe.” THE MISTLETOE BOUGH.
A GREAT SUCCESS, THIRTEEN SCENES OF THE GRAND ROMANTIC CHRISTMAS DRAMA. SUPERBLY EXECUTED THROUGHOUT.
Genuinely English in Conception and Sentiment.
No incomprehensible Foreign Hash.
A Good Top of the Bill. A Sure Draw. Orders filled in rotation.
Length, 500ft. Price, £12 10s.
The Era. December 31, 1904: 33.
"Earliest film of Christmas ghost story sees light; Watch the BFI’s restoration of The Mistletoe Bough (1904), the oldest film version of a classic Christmas ghost story." British Film Institute. December 12, 2013. https://www.bfi.org.uk/news/earliest-...
"At the Queen’s Electric Theatre cinema pictures and vaudeville are again the attraction, and two most interesting programmes have been secured for next week’s showing. The opening portion of the week the screen will show a Christmas ghost story, 'The Haunted House of Wild Isle.' It is the case of the ghost that captures another man’s money.
“Next Week’s Amusements.” Stalybridge Reporter. December 18, 1915: 3 col 6.
“A CHRISTMAS EVE GHOST STORY O—o-o-oh! The centre girl is our own MARY PICKFORD.”
Picturegoer. December 15, 1917: 616. [photograph and caption appearing alongside “The Crystal Studio Case: A Christmas Mystery Yarn” by Ivan Patrick Gore.]
"Still trying to track a Christmas ghost, the nearest I could get to it was with this Trans-Atlantic Company, one of which had dreamt of 'The Grey Ghost.' The ghosts must all have joined up in one of the numerous “phantom armies” we have read of in the war."
“Weekly Notes.” The Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly. January 10, 1918: 39.
There'll be scary ghost stories
A question I might try to touch on in a future book would be how the New York City-born Jewish songwriters of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Edward Pola (Sidney Edward Pollacsek) (1907-1995) and George Wyle (Bernard Weissman) (1916-2003), might have been exposed to the tradition. Both men appear to have been living in California in the early 1960s. Some searching on ancestry.com indicated that the former’s father Alexander Pollacsek was from Hungary; the latter’s, David Bernard Weissman, was from Romania.
Had the writers learned traditions from Christian friends and neighbors in the US? Were they familiar in some way via their ancestors in Europe, given that Hungary and Romania had some ghostly Christmas traditions involving witches or goat-men?
Those things are possible, but credit might go primarily to Edward Pola, who spent much of his life in England between 1926 and 1961 at least, if not longer.
“GRANADA TV NETWORK have announced that Eddie Pola has joined their organisation as executive producer of light entertainment programmes.
“This appointment is the culmination of a career which started in England in 1926 […]
“Despite his travelling to and fro, the majority of his theatrical career has been spent in England and his family life has always centred here.
“Eddie Pola Joins Granada.” The Stage. June 16, 1955: 9 col 6.; "Eddie Pola Leaves Granada for U.S." The Stage. July 13, 1961: 10 cols 2-4.
Even one who had not spent time in England could have been aware of the tradition, however. As I’d noted in the introduction to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four, aside from British publications being sold in America as well, and Americans republishing British stories, some Americans wrote stories in the tradition as well. The anthologist Edward Wagenknecht, writing in 1949, thought that American examples were “few and far between,” but he couldn’t have dreamed of the search tools we have today. August Derleth, more grounded in horror literature than Wagenknecht was, showed more awareness, writing under the headline “U.S. Revives Ghost Tales for Holidays” in 1945 that there was
“abundant evidence that the American reader is finding a great deal of pleasure in this form of entertainment. […] The telling of those stories at Christmas Eve as well as at Halloween is a time-honored tradition in America as well as in European countries, if admittedly not as wide-spread as it is across the sea.”
Derleth, August. “U.S. Revives Ghost Tales for Holidays.” Chicago Tribune. December 2, 1945: 20 col 5.
Had the writers learned traditions from Christian friends and neighbors in the US? Were they familiar in some way via their ancestors in Europe, given that Hungary and Romania had some ghostly Christmas traditions involving witches or goat-men?
Those things are possible, but credit might go primarily to Edward Pola, who spent much of his life in England between 1926 and 1961 at least, if not longer.
“GRANADA TV NETWORK have announced that Eddie Pola has joined their organisation as executive producer of light entertainment programmes.
“This appointment is the culmination of a career which started in England in 1926 […]
“Despite his travelling to and fro, the majority of his theatrical career has been spent in England and his family life has always centred here.
“Eddie Pola Joins Granada.” The Stage. June 16, 1955: 9 col 6.; "Eddie Pola Leaves Granada for U.S." The Stage. July 13, 1961: 10 cols 2-4.
Even one who had not spent time in England could have been aware of the tradition, however. As I’d noted in the introduction to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four, aside from British publications being sold in America as well, and Americans republishing British stories, some Americans wrote stories in the tradition as well. The anthologist Edward Wagenknecht, writing in 1949, thought that American examples were “few and far between,” but he couldn’t have dreamed of the search tools we have today. August Derleth, more grounded in horror literature than Wagenknecht was, showed more awareness, writing under the headline “U.S. Revives Ghost Tales for Holidays” in 1945 that there was
“abundant evidence that the American reader is finding a great deal of pleasure in this form of entertainment. […] The telling of those stories at Christmas Eve as well as at Halloween is a time-honored tradition in America as well as in European countries, if admittedly not as wide-spread as it is across the sea.”
Derleth, August. “U.S. Revives Ghost Tales for Holidays.” Chicago Tribune. December 2, 1945: 20 col 5.
December 24, 2023
Lot No. 249
Just watched Mark Gatiss' latest Ghost Story For Christmas for the BBC as on Christmas Eve the time passed midnight and changed to Christmas morning.
When I'd first heard the choice of story announced, I was somewhat annoyed. I wish, when presenting a “Ghost Story for Christmas,” that they’d pick something that was actually read aloud (as with M. R. James) or published at Christmas, or set during Christmas, if not both (as with Dickens). Lot No. 249 was published in September 1892 and makes no mention of Advent, Christmas, or Christmastide. One can call it a "ghost story" in the broad sense, and yes they’re presenting it for Christmas *now*, but historically it was not a Christmas ghost story in any way.
Gatiss had said, "It’s a serious delight for me to delve once again into the brilliant work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this time for the Christmas ghost story. Lot No.249 is personal favourite and is the grand-daddy (or should that be Mummy?) of a particular kind of end of Empire chiller: a ripping yarn packed with ghastly scares and who-knows-what lurking in the Victorian closet …”. With that last, he was definitely telegraphing something- broadcasting, really.
Marni Cerise in "The Queer-Coding of BBC’s 'Lot No. 249'" on the site telly visions wrote of it having "a heavy reliance on a style of old-school queer coding" and Cerise wrote of signifiers, of the suggestive, of implication. It's all laid on so very thick in the program, however, that one might as well call it explicitly queer.
Cerise called the heavy reliance on the coding the "one misstep" of the program. I'm not sure I agree. There's the aforementioned issue of it not being a Christmas ghost story, and how that may further confuse matters for people trying to understand what a Christmas ghost story is.
The idea of queering the story I don't find inherently objectionable, but how it overdid that to such a degree definitely was. Unfaithfulness to the story in other ways also bothered me. The ending was changed, not for the better.
Worst of all, it simply wasn't in the least bit scary. If it's not time for Gatiss to pass the baton entirely, perhaps he should step back from the writing at least.
When I'd first heard the choice of story announced, I was somewhat annoyed. I wish, when presenting a “Ghost Story for Christmas,” that they’d pick something that was actually read aloud (as with M. R. James) or published at Christmas, or set during Christmas, if not both (as with Dickens). Lot No. 249 was published in September 1892 and makes no mention of Advent, Christmas, or Christmastide. One can call it a "ghost story" in the broad sense, and yes they’re presenting it for Christmas *now*, but historically it was not a Christmas ghost story in any way.
Gatiss had said, "It’s a serious delight for me to delve once again into the brilliant work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this time for the Christmas ghost story. Lot No.249 is personal favourite and is the grand-daddy (or should that be Mummy?) of a particular kind of end of Empire chiller: a ripping yarn packed with ghastly scares and who-knows-what lurking in the Victorian closet …”. With that last, he was definitely telegraphing something- broadcasting, really.
Marni Cerise in "The Queer-Coding of BBC’s 'Lot No. 249'" on the site telly visions wrote of it having "a heavy reliance on a style of old-school queer coding" and Cerise wrote of signifiers, of the suggestive, of implication. It's all laid on so very thick in the program, however, that one might as well call it explicitly queer.
Cerise called the heavy reliance on the coding the "one misstep" of the program. I'm not sure I agree. There's the aforementioned issue of it not being a Christmas ghost story, and how that may further confuse matters for people trying to understand what a Christmas ghost story is.
The idea of queering the story I don't find inherently objectionable, but how it overdid that to such a degree definitely was. Unfaithfulness to the story in other ways also bothered me. The ending was changed, not for the better.
Worst of all, it simply wasn't in the least bit scary. If it's not time for Gatiss to pass the baton entirely, perhaps he should step back from the writing at least.
A Christmas Gift?
For some free stories, check out Nina Zumel's wordpress blog Multo (Ghost) where there's a whole anthology-worth of Winter Tales there with deeper cuts than a number of print anthologies.
Also, Tim Prasil's Brom Bones Books website has a nice collection of relevant quotes on its "Fireside Storytelling Descriptions & Depictions" page.
Also, Tim Prasil's Brom Bones Books website has a nice collection of relevant quotes on its "Fireside Storytelling Descriptions & Depictions" page.
December 22, 2023
"The Subsequent Career of Marley's Ghost" by Margaret Henderson
"For so important a character, Marley’s Ghost was dropped out of history in a most unceremonious, not to say unsatisfactory, manner," wrote Margaret Henderson in 1891, nearly fifty years after Charles Dickens introduced the world to Jacob Marley.
She'd only just graduated from high school in 1891 and would go on to become an English teacher herself. Her darkly humorous story went on to detail what became of Marley after the events Dickens described. In short: it's hard out there for a ghost!
Read on about The Subsequent Career of Marley's Ghost.
She'd only just graduated from high school in 1891 and would go on to become an English teacher herself. Her darkly humorous story went on to detail what became of Marley after the events Dickens described. In short: it's hard out there for a ghost!
Read on about The Subsequent Career of Marley's Ghost.
Gen Xmas horror
I had read, heard, or seen most of these while a child in the 70s-80s:
Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957) book
“The Witch in Pursuit,” A Christmas Adventure in Disneyland (1958) LP
Pearl S. Buck, Christmas Ghost (1960) book
Bobby “Boris” Pickett, “Monster’s Holiday” (1962) LP
Astrid Lindgren, The Tomten (1960) book
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) TV movie
Jane Thayer, Gus Was a Christmas Ghost (1969) book
Norman Bridwell, The Witch's Christmas (1970) book
Linda Glovach, The Little Witch’s Christmas Book (1974) book
Robert Bright, Georgie’s Christmas Carol (1975) book
Tomie DePaola, The Cat on the Dovrefell: A Christmas Tale (1979) book
Casper's First Christmas (TV Movie 1979)
James Flora, Grandpa's Witched-Up Christmas (1982) book
Possibly that had fueled an interest in Christmas ghost stories, although at the time I wasn't aware that the terms like "ghost stories" and "goblin tales" had for centuries been catch-alls, somewhat equivalent to "weird tales." For those interested specifically in stories involving disembodied spirits of the dead or wraiths of the living who are soon to be dead, that can be confounding, admittedly.
S. T. Joshi in The Weird Tale (1990) had written "I find the term 'ghost story' particularly irksome, although it has gained wide usage. To me 'ghost story' can mean nothing but a story with a ghost in it; but others have thought differently." I get that. That said, think of both Charles Dickens and M. R. James. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come are not spirits of deceased people like Marley and the other misers Scrooge saw, and in other stories like "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" have goblins taking the supernatural role. "The Ash-tree" by James, adapted by the BBC as part of A Ghost Story for Christmas, involves witchcraft and venomous spiders; look for ghost, wraith, phantom, spirit, etc. in it: you won't find them.
One does need to explain that, though, I'd noted in the introduction to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four that the tradition was rooted in bugbears and bogies of all sorts. The subtitle of 1730's Round About Our Coal-Fire: or Christmas Entertainments had listed "Stories of Fairies, Ghosts, Hobgoblins, Witches, Bull-Beggars, Rawheads and Bloody-Bones." In volume five, I'd noted that lexicographer Francis Gross wrote in 1787 that “ghosts, fairies and witches, with bloody murders, committed by tinkers, formed a principal part of rural conversation, in all large assemblies, and particularly those in the Christmas holy-days, during the burning of the yule-block.” Some people don't read introductions, unfortunately! Oh, well.
I never have found any bloody, murderous tinker stories, but perhaps those only existed as an oral tradition and never made it to print. That said, Christmastime stories of murderous psychopaths without any supernatural elements were common enough in the Victorian era in print, and continue on today in Christmas horror movies like Black Christmas (1974).
With Christmas horror movies too, the releases stacked up, ready to be viewed on the sly by Gen Xers as children or rented by themselves when older. Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972), Christmas Evil (1980), To All a Goodnight (1980), Don't Open Till Christmas (1984), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984).
Also true with respect to print anthologies, the first published of which I'm aware being Manley and Gogo Lewis' Christmas Ghosts: An Anthology (1978), followed by Peter Haining's Christmas Spirits: Ghost Stories Of The Festive Season (1983).
Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957) book
“The Witch in Pursuit,” A Christmas Adventure in Disneyland (1958) LP
Pearl S. Buck, Christmas Ghost (1960) book
Bobby “Boris” Pickett, “Monster’s Holiday” (1962) LP
Astrid Lindgren, The Tomten (1960) book
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) TV movie
Jane Thayer, Gus Was a Christmas Ghost (1969) book
Norman Bridwell, The Witch's Christmas (1970) book
Linda Glovach, The Little Witch’s Christmas Book (1974) book
Robert Bright, Georgie’s Christmas Carol (1975) book
Tomie DePaola, The Cat on the Dovrefell: A Christmas Tale (1979) book
Casper's First Christmas (TV Movie 1979)
James Flora, Grandpa's Witched-Up Christmas (1982) book
Possibly that had fueled an interest in Christmas ghost stories, although at the time I wasn't aware that the terms like "ghost stories" and "goblin tales" had for centuries been catch-alls, somewhat equivalent to "weird tales." For those interested specifically in stories involving disembodied spirits of the dead or wraiths of the living who are soon to be dead, that can be confounding, admittedly.
S. T. Joshi in The Weird Tale (1990) had written "I find the term 'ghost story' particularly irksome, although it has gained wide usage. To me 'ghost story' can mean nothing but a story with a ghost in it; but others have thought differently." I get that. That said, think of both Charles Dickens and M. R. James. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come are not spirits of deceased people like Marley and the other misers Scrooge saw, and in other stories like "The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton" have goblins taking the supernatural role. "The Ash-tree" by James, adapted by the BBC as part of A Ghost Story for Christmas, involves witchcraft and venomous spiders; look for ghost, wraith, phantom, spirit, etc. in it: you won't find them.
One does need to explain that, though, I'd noted in the introduction to the Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories volume four that the tradition was rooted in bugbears and bogies of all sorts. The subtitle of 1730's Round About Our Coal-Fire: or Christmas Entertainments had listed "Stories of Fairies, Ghosts, Hobgoblins, Witches, Bull-Beggars, Rawheads and Bloody-Bones." In volume five, I'd noted that lexicographer Francis Gross wrote in 1787 that “ghosts, fairies and witches, with bloody murders, committed by tinkers, formed a principal part of rural conversation, in all large assemblies, and particularly those in the Christmas holy-days, during the burning of the yule-block.” Some people don't read introductions, unfortunately! Oh, well.
I never have found any bloody, murderous tinker stories, but perhaps those only existed as an oral tradition and never made it to print. That said, Christmastime stories of murderous psychopaths without any supernatural elements were common enough in the Victorian era in print, and continue on today in Christmas horror movies like Black Christmas (1974).
With Christmas horror movies too, the releases stacked up, ready to be viewed on the sly by Gen Xers as children or rented by themselves when older. Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972), Christmas Evil (1980), To All a Goodnight (1980), Don't Open Till Christmas (1984), Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984).
Also true with respect to print anthologies, the first published of which I'm aware being Manley and Gogo Lewis' Christmas Ghosts: An Anthology (1978), followed by Peter Haining's Christmas Spirits: Ghost Stories Of The Festive Season (1983).
Christmas Ghost Stories and Horror
I was fortunate enough to edit Valancourt Books' 4th & 5th volumes of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories. Things found while compiling are shared here. (Including some Thanksgiving Ghost items.)
...more
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